Thursday, October 29, 2009

Homer in the White House

This is more like it. We elect our presidents tohang Winslow Homers on the walls of the White House! This 19th century painteris thought to embody the rugged, outdoorsy nature of the American character, theethos of the frontier. Though reared in the art of Europe, Homer's style andcontent are essentially American. The present work is surely one of his betterpaintings, very daring indeed in its flirtations with abstraction. It couldalmost be a Franz Kline. The Obamas have chosen well.